Farewell to Salonica: City at the Crossroads (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

" . . . written in a charming and effortless manner." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A fresh and charming book that throws a kindly light on a sector of human life unknown to most Americans." -- New York Times

"A warm and softly luminous book." -- The Nation

"It creates an atmosphere of expectation and wonder and enjoyment." -- Christian Science Monitor

"Not much living and breathing history has been written about Macedonia. This book is welcome." -- The Post, Boston

"The author has made Salonica a living town." -- New York Herald Tribune

"This picture of a Jewish childhood among rich merchants in Salonica has a glow." -- Chicago Sun

Product Description

At the crossroads of East and West, Salonica (now Thessaloniki) was an oasis in a swirl of conflicting powers and interests, a vibrant world of varied peoples, where Leon Sciaky grew up at the turn of the twentieth century. This Paul Dry Books rediscovered classic includes many photos courtesy of Leon Sciaky's son Peter, who has also written a short biographical sketch of his father's life in America.

 

"Farewell to Salonica is a fresh and charming book that throws a kindly light on a sector of human life unknown to most Americans." —New York Times

"A gallery of beautiful and quaint sketches, revealing fascinating aspects of civilization in a strange city where East met West and the ancient past met the future . . . It creates an atmosphere of expectation and wonder and enjoyment. Most of all, an atmosphere of living." —Christian Science Monitor

"An altogether charming book, so simply and truthfully written . . .The Salonica one reads about is not only a fascinating and complex city in which many national and cultural strains run side by side, but it is a critical city of Aegean politics. . . . The breakdown of the Turkish Empire and its consequences for Balkan affairs are better understood when one has read this book. But it is not the political value of the book that should be emphasized so much as its quiet charm, its unpretentious and easy portrayal of a cultural pattern through an account of an engaging family. . . A warm and softly luminous book." —The Nation

 

Leon Sciaky was born in 1894, when the Turkish flag still waved over Salonica. His family left their beloved but turbulent homeland in 1915, settling in New York City. Sciaky lived in America—mainly upstate New York—with his wife, Frances, and son until his death in 1958. He taught at a number of progressive schools and camps and, in his last years, owned and operated a school and camp with Frances.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Paul Dry Books (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589880021
• ISBN-13: 978-1589880023
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #253,564 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Salonica Remembered, August 2, 2005

By	John E. Fischer (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I discovered this book by reading Mazower's book. This was a pure delight to read. The author brought me back to a Thessaloniki I had learned about in Mazower, but added the warm, personal details of family life and interaction among the groups which made up Salonica in the early 20th century. I didn't want the book to end. I was surprised to learn that it had been published quite a while ago and that the author's child added an epilogue. I wish I had read it before and wandered the streets to find some of the landmarks.

37 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly written memoir, July 17, 2003

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Farewell To Salonica: City At The Crossroads is the autobiography of Leon Sciaky and tells of his having grown up in Salonica (now called Thessaloniki), in Greece. A remarkable view of a place where Sephardic Jews, Greeks, Turks, Macedonians, Albanians, and Bulgarians all met, traded, and went about their daily lives. A superbly written memoir, Farewell to Salonica is a heartfelt, highly recommended testimony to a memorable city and a cultural mecca.

4.0 out of 5 stars Another lens on Thessaloniki, January 2, 2009

By	earthmother65 (Brussels, Belgium) - See all my reviews

This gives another lens on Thessaloniki's history before it became Greek - with a personal touch, reminiscent a bit of Orhan Pamuk's "Istanbul". Highly recommended for anyone interested in Greece, the Ottoman Empire, Sephardic Jews...or simply a pleasant memoir.